"It is anticipated that the Tax Board's decision will serve as a guideline for the taxation of similar facilities that are being planned in Massachusetts and throughout the country," says attorney John M. Lynch. Lynch and Stephen W. DeCourcey of the Boston law firm of Lynch, DeSimone & Nylen LLP, represented the Newton Board of Assessors.

The appeal, filed by Lasell Village for fiscal year 2002, was tried before the Appellate Tax Board in June 2003. Lasell Village consists of a 162-unit independent living facility and 44-bed skilled nursing facility located in the Auburndale section of the city, adjacent to the Lasell College campus. Based on its stated mission of educating the elderly, Lasell Village stated that it qualified as a charitable institution dedicated to an educational purpose.

The Newton assessors contested this claim on several grounds, including that Lasell limited entry to the facility to only those who could afford the required entrance fees, which ranged from $171,000 to $525,000, and additional monthly service fees, which ranged from $1,650 to $3,000. In exchange for these fees, the assessors noted that the village offered "spacious apartment homes with the services and amenities of a fine hotel." In addition, the assessors asserted that the predominant activity at the village was residential living and not, as required to meet the test for charitable exemption, education.